User blog:Galleigo/LEO-3 Catastrophe
The Leo-3 was a mission to land and begin colonising JOR. It failed horribly and the crew members never returned. Mission Report (tapping sounds) Astronaut 02: This is Leo 3. Griffin Command? Command: Copy, Leo 3. Astronaut 02: Mission Report - Just left HOM orbit. All systems nominal. Solar panels working, batteries fully charged. 96% fuel. Command: Thank you, Leo 3. Contact us when you reach KAT. Astronaut 02: Leo out. Off Course Astronaut 02: This is Leo 3. Griffin Command? Command: Copy, Leo 3. Astronaut 02: We got a problem. Our radars have suddenly told us we're off course from KAT, we're at 900km distance. Execute course correction? There is a painfully long pause. Command: Go ahead, Leo 3. Astronaut 02: On my mark. Three, two, one... The engines can be heard whirring for a few seconds. Astronaut 02: Course correction successful. Leo 3 out. Radar Glitch Astronaut 01: Leo 3, Griffin Command. Command: Copy, Leo 3. Astronaut 01: Mission Report - Currently in KAT orbit. 78% fuel. Oxygen tanks at 94% capacity. Command: Your fuel tanks are predicted to be at 84% at this time. Has anything happened? Astronaut 01: Yeah. 02 told you about a course correction earlier, right? Well, turns out our radars glitched out a little. We had to reverse the correction. Command: Noted. Orbit KAT 4 times before leaving orbit. Unexpected Orbital Exit Without any request from the astronauts, Leo 3's communications systems activate. Leo 3 speakers: ...(sud)den unexpected activation of engines. Requesting Command assistance. Astronaut 03: ...oh removed removed removed removed removed... Astronaut 03: Griffin Command, Leo 3, emergency. Command: Copy, Leo 3. What has happened? Astronaut 03: Engines turned on on their own, must be some glitch... left KAT orbit at 2nd orbit, we're horribly off course, 54 degrees to be exact. Course correction permission? Command: Permission granted, proceed immediately. No sound is heard from the engines. Astronaut 03: Oh removed. Command, checking engines... Astronaut 03: We '''do' have fuel, that's good, no lea-'' The engines suddenly roar to life. Astronaut 03: Aahh!!!! Command remains in contact. Astronaut 03: All right, course correction complete. Leo 3 out. Command: Griffin Command out. Fuel Leak Astronaut 01: Seriously, what's even going on with this? What the removed is even wrong with thi- oh removed. Astronaut 03: I'm contacting command, damnit! Command: Leo 3? Astronaut 03: Yeah. Sudden fuel leak. 3% has leaked out so far... Astronaut 02 (distant): Seven percent! Astronaut 03: Permission to temporarily store fuel in lander and perform a spacewalk to fix the service module requested. Command: Permission accepted. Proceed immediately. Astronaut 02: I'll go out, give me a sec... (Repair was successful, but not before 17% of the fuel was leaked out, leaving the craft at a critical 43%. Course Change Command: ...hello? Astronaut 01: Leo 3. Command: Copy. Astronaut 01: Not enough fuel to orbit and deorbit EMA. Request permission to change course and go directly to JOR. Command remains silent for a few seconds. Command: Proceed. JOR Landing Astronaut 02: Griffin... Command: Leo 3, copy. Astronaut 02: Orbiting JOR. Command: Status? Astronaut 02: Fuel at 34%. Command is silent for a few seconds. Reports are sent to L3 members for further advice. Astronaut 02: Landing on JOR. Sealed off airlock to service module. Ejecting. Astronaut 01: Landed on JOR surface. 236 metres from Leo 2 landing site. Astronaut 03: Core miners are collecting JOR rocks. There is a sudden burst of static. Command: This is Griffin Command. Leo 3, has anything happened? Astronaut 03: Uh, service module eclipsed us and blocked our comms. Everything is fine. Astronaut 02: Okay, we've collected 50kg of moon rocks. Taking off... Astronaut 02: Successful! Docked to service module. Astronaut 03: Uh oh. Low fuel. Can we use cartesian navigation instead to get back to HOM? (sounds of command microphone being shifted) Council 02: This is Council 02. From now on I will be commanding this mission due to the status. Astronaut 03: Woah, wa- I mean, yes, sir. Council 02: Use cartesian navigation to return to HOM. Astronaut 01: Yes sir. We're almost in the correct burn zone.... The engines failed to ignite. Astronaut 01: Uh oh. The engine suddenly begins to rattle audibly. Astronaut 01: Oh sh- sorry. Wait. Oh f- (cough) The engine fires, but a previously unnoticed fault in the gimbals causes it to fire tilted 4 degrees right. Astronaut 01: Faulty gimbals. What do we do? Council 02 remains silent for a few seconds. Astronaut 03: Cutting off engines. We are going to exit orbit if we don't. Council 02: Go to the exterior to fix the gimbals. Astronaut 01: O-okay, sir... Wait. We can't. The ascent module, which contains the exit airlock, already had its fuel automatically drained and then the module was abandoned. If we open the airlock in the Service Module, we'll get sucked out into space. More silence. Astronaut 03: Wait. I think we can emergency shutdown the gimbals using an explosive charge... Council 02: Check for any alternatives. The charge may destroy the nozzle. Astronaut 02: Sir, there is no other way to do fix the gimbals. Council 02: In that case... go ahead. Permission granted. Astronaut 03: Detonating... Astronaut 03: Success. Orbital exit complete, nozzle intact. Gimbals destroyed. The End Council 02 was unable to transmit anything to Leo 3 during much of this last section. Astronaut 01, leader of the Leo 3 team, was getting rather worried. A micrometeorite has destroyed one of his ship's two solar panels and the ship is now running on extremely low power. The solar sails had been taken out for this mission. And now his cartesian navigation bullremoved was found to be 0.03 degrees off. Astronaut 02 checks the radar and almost faints. They're headed straight toward HOM. No chance to deorbit. Course correction begins despite the lack of permission. The communications systems had temporarily been shut down due to the low power. With the low fuel, course correction only can get things to just 0.012 degrees off. The Leo 3 crew sits down on the crew capsule's G-couch. Not really the right way to use it, but who cares? The ship is probably going to re-enter too steeply... or horizontally. Either way, they're probably screwed. Only a few taps of thruster propellant left to orientate the capsule correctly during re-entry. They sit. And sit. And keep sitting. Before they know it, they're 700 kilometres from HOM. They can't even send a voice message, for fear it would take up too much battery. Instead a text is sent. Leo 3... Don't know if you're hearing this, Griffin Command, but we're screwed. No fuel left. Low battery. Leo 3 out. And a few minutes later, the crew capsule reveals the orange glow beginning to form on the observation window. They establish communications with Griffin Command again. This is Astronaut 01 abroad the Leo 3. We're re-entering almost vertically. The heat shield won't hold out. Too much turbulence. The heat shield is facing up. Correcting. Heat shield pointing down. No more thruster propellant. Command hears it.'' Council 02 is quick to reply. ''In that case... protocol requires we close this channel. I am sorry, Leo 3. The astronauts hear it loud and clear despite the static. Astronaut 02 can't take it anymore. removed you, you removed removeds... I knew this removeding removed ship would removeding fail... I told you removeds to removeding add a removeding airlock to the removeding capsule... removeding removed removed removed, removed, removed, removed... Unknown to Leo 3, almost the whole Council is listening. Council 01. As you said, you are re-entering at a bad angle. Your heat shield will disintegrate soon. Goodbye, Leo 3. Closing channel. Somehow, possibly due to the status of Leo 3's communications systems, Leo 3 retains the ability to send messages despite Command attempting to close the connection. A few L3 members heard the rest of the angry broadcast: Oh removed the heat shield is removeding breaking, holy removed exterior is removeding glowing red, OH REMOVEDING REMOVED IT BROKE, OUR SUITS ARE REMOVEDING BURNING UP, REMOVEDING REMOVED... (followed by screaming for the rest of the broadcast... then static.) The report went directly to The Founder. He looked at it. The 3 astronauts had burned to death. Their bodies were just... gone. removed it. Grade-3 everyone who was involved. And so that is what happened. The Leo 3 never failed. Another Leo mission was launched. That was the Leo 3. Astronauts 01, 02 and 03 would never be remembered. There were no funerals for them. Their families were administered Grade 4 and released with no memory of the three men. The thought kept bugging The Founder for weeks. Months. Eventually, Council 01 received a note: removeding removed. Leo 3 failed, I removeding covered up their deaths. I can't take this anymore. Grade 4 to be sent to my office. Thank you. Category:Blog posts